Riccelli calls it "the staple of the bakery and the staple of
Nazareth" in a phone interview
Thursday.

Vincent suggested halving the amount of brown sugar, adding
crystallized, decorative sugars to the top, cutting the size of the product and
packaging it in a fancy box to upsell customers.

Riccelli said his sugar cake will remain the same price, same
recipe, same size and same packaging. The only thing he'll consider is to occasionally repackage the sugar
cake on special occasions, but there's a cost factor in that.

"They don't want us to change anything," Riccelli said of his loyal Nazareth customers. "If we put that stuff on
Moravian sugar cake, they wouldn't buy it again."

Vincent also suggested taking a 40-cent sugar cookie and
adding sugar pearls and patterned frosting to create a $4 version.

Riccelli said he hung a sign Thursday in the store that read: "Today's
special: 40-cent sugar cookies."

New look

The episode, "Battered Dreams," focuses on Vincent's menu changes and renovations
to the aging bakery's brown interior to a crisp white one with green accents that features
enlarged, framed photos of historic Nazareth.
New seats, display cases and an eye-catching window display now mark the Broad
Street spot.

In the episode, Riccelli says he's put his heart and soul into
the business. But his wife, A.J., says they've become "burned out."

"I don't see the bakery being in business much longer unless
something changes now," A.J. Riccelli says to the camera.

One thing Riccelli stresses is though the name of the show
would tell you otherwise, "We were never in jeopardy of going out of business.
Nor are we today. We were looking for the national exposure."

Neighborhood reaction

Riccelli said the response the day after the episode was
overwhelming, both at the store and on its Facebook page.

Loyal customers have since voiced concerns over how the bakery was portrayed, according to Riccelli.

And Riccelli took umbrage with the host and the advice she
doled out, and "has issue with Kerry thinking she's above everyone."

Would he do the show over again? "Absolutely not."

"We did it for the national recognition and exposure ... but I
just felt they had the wrong person there to represent the expert in bakeries,"
Riccelli said.

National exposure

Though the hourlong episode exposed the small-town bakery to
a national audience, Riccelli expressed disappointment the final version of the
show didn't include his emotional retelling of the late Ernest Schubert
verbally passing down the sugar cake recipe that's made the bakery so
successful.

"I felt there was an awful lot of good material that was not
put into the show," he said.

Food Network could not be reached for comment.

"It came across as a reality/drama show and our core
customers knew what was going on," he said. "For those who haven't stopped in, we invite you to visit and
see what we're all about."